So let's say you have a character that's doing a little bit of superhero work, even if they're not a superhero in the strict, power-wielding sense. Maybe they're stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, or attending clandestine meetings that help save the world. Whatever it is, your hero wants to hide his true identity with, at the very least, a mask. What colors might be interesting for your character to wear?
I mean, sure, there's always the black mask. The bad guys always seem to have them. And Zoro. And Westly from the Princess Bride. Yeah, there's a lot of black masks going around. I'm sure that's because their wearers can hide better in the dark, or want to present an ominous front, or blah blah BORING.
Give me MAROON. Give me FOREST GREEN. Give me CHARTREUSE. But not necessarily in all caps.
What could your character wear to give them a little, well, character?
Writing, reviewing speculative fiction, and other story telling misc.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
TNG Ep 18: Home Soil
This episode is known in my household as the "Ugly bags of mostly water" episode, a line I actually remember from the first time I saw it. Kudos to Data for teaching me that humans are 90% water, and before I was old enough to attend school. Talk about a lasting impression!
Summary:
The Enterprise stops by Velara III to check on the terraforming crew. They all seem fine, except that Counselor Troi can sense that Mandl is hiding something. Picard insists on sending down an away team as visitors, and while they are there, one of the terraforming group is killed by a psycho drilling laser. When Data and La Forge are checking out the vicinity for clues, they find a glowing speck which they take to the Enterprise. The speck is inorganic, yet appears to be alive - this becomes a certainty when it not only speaks to them through the ship's translator, but also self-replicates. Picard then has a stern talking to the terraformers because some of them kinda sorta knew that there might be life on the planet. The speck becomes a ball and declares war on humans for destroying it's habitat. By this time, the alien has taken over the remote controls to the lab. The Enterprise then figures out that the alien subsists on light, so they dim the lights to the lab manually. Everyone reaches a truce and the aliens are returned home with the promise that humans won't bother them for a while.
This may not be the most amazing episode ever, but the premise appeals to me. As a scifi writer, a non-humanoid alien can be fun to write. An inorganic alien that communicates with patterns in the sand? Heck yes.
Of course, what really takes the cake for this episode is the "ugly bags of mostly water" scene. When the aliens get the translator really working, that's the first thing they say. Picard is baffled, which is always fun to see, and Data has to explain it to him, which is also always fun to see.
I have to say though that this isn't an episode you take seriously. It may be amusing, but you never really feel like the characters are in danger, even though the alien is taking over the ship. None of the characters really stand out, either - oh! Unless you count Data kicking the butt of the psycho laser. Yeeeeeees. Is that not the point of having a super-human android?
This episode was on the predictable side, but I still enjoyed it. It taught me science when I was an impressionable preschooler! Win!
Summary:
The Enterprise stops by Velara III to check on the terraforming crew. They all seem fine, except that Counselor Troi can sense that Mandl is hiding something. Picard insists on sending down an away team as visitors, and while they are there, one of the terraforming group is killed by a psycho drilling laser. When Data and La Forge are checking out the vicinity for clues, they find a glowing speck which they take to the Enterprise. The speck is inorganic, yet appears to be alive - this becomes a certainty when it not only speaks to them through the ship's translator, but also self-replicates. Picard then has a stern talking to the terraformers because some of them kinda sorta knew that there might be life on the planet. The speck becomes a ball and declares war on humans for destroying it's habitat. By this time, the alien has taken over the remote controls to the lab. The Enterprise then figures out that the alien subsists on light, so they dim the lights to the lab manually. Everyone reaches a truce and the aliens are returned home with the promise that humans won't bother them for a while.
This may not be the most amazing episode ever, but the premise appeals to me. As a scifi writer, a non-humanoid alien can be fun to write. An inorganic alien that communicates with patterns in the sand? Heck yes.
Of course, what really takes the cake for this episode is the "ugly bags of mostly water" scene. When the aliens get the translator really working, that's the first thing they say. Picard is baffled, which is always fun to see, and Data has to explain it to him, which is also always fun to see.
I have to say though that this isn't an episode you take seriously. It may be amusing, but you never really feel like the characters are in danger, even though the alien is taking over the ship. None of the characters really stand out, either - oh! Unless you count Data kicking the butt of the psycho laser. Yeeeeeees. Is that not the point of having a super-human android?
This episode was on the predictable side, but I still enjoyed it. It taught me science when I was an impressionable preschooler! Win!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Theory Train Submission Deadline
One week from today is Theory Train's submission deadline for issue 2. Visit our website now to review the submissions guidelines and submit your speculative fiction prose and poetry!
If you are interested in helping promote or review Theory Train and have not yet contacted us, please email theory train (at) gmail dot com about issue 2.
If you are interested in helping promote or review Theory Train and have not yet contacted us, please email theory train (at) gmail dot com about issue 2.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Questions for Writers: Useless Talents
Real people have useless talents. What about your characters?
If a talent is truly useless plot-wise, do you even mention it in the story? Lets assume we're working with a novel, where there's more room for character development and backstory. Still, even in a novel, you don't want to ramble and risk boring or confusing your readers. How could you work a detail like this in appropriately? What would be the wrong way?
And then of course there is Chekhov's Gun. A character might have a talent that seems useless, or even a liability, until the climax. How do you pull that off believably? There might be some middle ground, too. Like, a talent that's useful a few times but doesn't come into play when beating the bad guy. That kind of detail can make a character seem more rounded, if you pull it off right.
This is kind of like two questions, unless you think about it as a question of balancing details. So sue me.
If a talent is truly useless plot-wise, do you even mention it in the story? Lets assume we're working with a novel, where there's more room for character development and backstory. Still, even in a novel, you don't want to ramble and risk boring or confusing your readers. How could you work a detail like this in appropriately? What would be the wrong way?
And then of course there is Chekhov's Gun. A character might have a talent that seems useless, or even a liability, until the climax. How do you pull that off believably? There might be some middle ground, too. Like, a talent that's useful a few times but doesn't come into play when beating the bad guy. That kind of detail can make a character seem more rounded, if you pull it off right.
This is kind of like two questions, unless you think about it as a question of balancing details. So sue me.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
TNG Ep.17: When the Bough Breaks
Summary:
The Enterprise is led to a hidden planet analogous to Atlantis, Aldea. The natives lower their planet's cloak and invite them planet-side, then reveal that they have no children and would like the Enterprise's. Riker, of course, says no, so they return the crew to the ship and steal the children using their superior transporter technology. The children are immediately assigned to families and given cool toys to play with. Because Wesley is one of the children stolen, Picard takes Dr. Crusher on the negotiations with the ?. With Wesley's help, Crusher obtains scans of the aliens which eventually allows her to develop a cure for the sterility and other health problems which are caused by their planet's shield. Meanwhile, Wesley leads the children on a food strike that upsets their new parents. Riker discovers how to beam down to the planet through a weakness in their shield, and he and Data disable the planet's mega-computer to give Picard and Crusher time to convince the aliens that their sterility is from radiation poisoning. Dr. Crusher cures their sterility and the children are returned to the Enterprise.
Is it wrong that my favorite part of this episode is Wesley and him leading the kids on a strike?
Wesley fandom aside, I really liked this episode because the antagonists weren't really enemies of the Enterprise. They were arrogant and desperate, but they weren't going to kill anyone even if the Enterprise told them no. Knowing this, Picard tread carefully and did a lot of stalling to give his crew time to find a peaceful solution. Sure, the Enterprise could have blustered and tried something more violent, but such an attempt was doomed to failure because of the planet's superior defensive technology. So, what I'm saying is that Picard and the rest of the crew were smart, and I like to see that they deserve to run a star ship.
And Wesley deserves to be leader of all the children. Seriously, he didn't break down into tears even when he saw his mother after the kidnapping. He knew how to talk to the younger children and how to talk for them. If I were five, I'd want someone like that watching out for me if my parents couldn't.
I also liked seeing all the parents in the meeting room with the crew. It's only fair to include and inform them as much as possible in that kind of situation.
The only thing off the top of my head that we could have seen more of is Dr. Crusher worrying. I mean, the ultimate solution rested on her head and she knew it. She was much calmer than in "Haven," though in Haven Wesley was threatened with death and the natives were barely willing to talk about it. Or maybe she was calmer this time because she now believes that Picard would do anything in his power to get her child back. That an go a long way. Still, there might have been some more wringing of hands on her part.
It's hard to hate anyone in this episode. All the characters behaved smartly and even the bad guys weren't so bad. I think we'll need some more Q or Lore to make the universe feel dangerous again!
The Enterprise is led to a hidden planet analogous to Atlantis, Aldea. The natives lower their planet's cloak and invite them planet-side, then reveal that they have no children and would like the Enterprise's. Riker, of course, says no, so they return the crew to the ship and steal the children using their superior transporter technology. The children are immediately assigned to families and given cool toys to play with. Because Wesley is one of the children stolen, Picard takes Dr. Crusher on the negotiations with the ?. With Wesley's help, Crusher obtains scans of the aliens which eventually allows her to develop a cure for the sterility and other health problems which are caused by their planet's shield. Meanwhile, Wesley leads the children on a food strike that upsets their new parents. Riker discovers how to beam down to the planet through a weakness in their shield, and he and Data disable the planet's mega-computer to give Picard and Crusher time to convince the aliens that their sterility is from radiation poisoning. Dr. Crusher cures their sterility and the children are returned to the Enterprise.
Is it wrong that my favorite part of this episode is Wesley and him leading the kids on a strike?
Wesley fandom aside, I really liked this episode because the antagonists weren't really enemies of the Enterprise. They were arrogant and desperate, but they weren't going to kill anyone even if the Enterprise told them no. Knowing this, Picard tread carefully and did a lot of stalling to give his crew time to find a peaceful solution. Sure, the Enterprise could have blustered and tried something more violent, but such an attempt was doomed to failure because of the planet's superior defensive technology. So, what I'm saying is that Picard and the rest of the crew were smart, and I like to see that they deserve to run a star ship.
And Wesley deserves to be leader of all the children. Seriously, he didn't break down into tears even when he saw his mother after the kidnapping. He knew how to talk to the younger children and how to talk for them. If I were five, I'd want someone like that watching out for me if my parents couldn't.
I also liked seeing all the parents in the meeting room with the crew. It's only fair to include and inform them as much as possible in that kind of situation.
The only thing off the top of my head that we could have seen more of is Dr. Crusher worrying. I mean, the ultimate solution rested on her head and she knew it. She was much calmer than in "Haven," though in Haven Wesley was threatened with death and the natives were barely willing to talk about it. Or maybe she was calmer this time because she now believes that Picard would do anything in his power to get her child back. That an go a long way. Still, there might have been some more wringing of hands on her part.
It's hard to hate anyone in this episode. All the characters behaved smartly and even the bad guys weren't so bad. I think we'll need some more Q or Lore to make the universe feel dangerous again!
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